During the past two weeks we experienced back-to-back mass shootings here in California.The first occurred last week in Cupertino, the heart of Silicon Valley, and the second in Seal Beach, a small seaside community just south of Los Angeles. What everyone—including two radio hosts who briefly interviewed me on the air after each incident—wants to know is: What motivates such individuals to commit mass murder? And how can they be identified and prevented from perpetrating these evil deeds? Questions like these are always challenging to answer in a sixty-second soundbyte or five-minute radio or television interview. So let me try to answer them more completely here as best I can.

As a former forensic psychologist for the Criminal Divisions of both the Santa Clara County (in Northern California) and Los Angeles County Superior Courts, I evaluated many violent offenders over the past fifteen years. While there is no single "profile" or explanation for every case, for me, the one underlying force influencing most violent behavior is pathological anger, rage, resentment and embitterment. (See my prior post on Post-traumatic Embitterment Disorder.) By "pathological," I mean excessive, destructive, debilitating and abnormal. But how does anger, an emotion we all share and deal with fairly regularly, particularly during these tough economic times, transform from normal and appropriate to dangerously pathological in these perpetrators? My short answer is "anger mismanagement." (See my prior post.) Let's more closely examine the two tragic California cases in as many weeks to see exactly how this happens.

The Cupertino shootings last week (in the San Francisco Bay Area) were reportedly perpetrated by

Shareef Allman, a 47-year-old described as a "disgruntled employee" who was upset (read pissed-off) about having been involuntarily switched to the night shift at his job. Mr. Allman, who was subsequently shot and killed by police while being apprehended not far from the scene of the crime, was apparently a religious man, a novelist, a preacher of non-violence, and a producer of a local cable TV show. I know nothing more about his personal history. But, as in so many of these cases, friends and neighbors seemed shocked to learn that this kind, gentle and generous man murdered three of his co-workers, seriously wounding seven others. The question, of course, is: How could such a nice guy, who took a very public stand against the evil of domestic violence, commit a vicious crime like this? What made him suddenly "snap"? Might there have been more to Mr. Allman than met the eye? Some shadowy Mr. Hyde lurking behind his Dr. Jekyll persona?

My clinical experience tells me that violent offenders in general--with the possible exception of those who commit impulsive and unpremeditated "crimes of passion" or suffer from some sudden medical crisis or neurological impairment—don't just "snap." They slowly and insidiously "bend," "stew," "simmer," and "boil" before breaking, snapping, boiling over, erupting or exploding. (See my prior post on such metaphors for anger.) And though they may have been very proficient at hiding their frustration, their rage, their resentment, their embitterment from others, and sometimes even themselves, the proverbial writing was on the wall. It's really a matter of being able and ready to read the signs by reviewing the perpetrator's behavioral and psychiatric history in sufficient depth to disclose the details. This is part of what takes place during a thorough forensic evaluation.

In this week's stunning slaughter of eight people in Southern California's affluent Seal Beach, a ninth victim remaining in critical condition, Scott Dekraai, a 42-year-old (yes, both he and Allman were middle-aged males, for you aspiring profilers out there, but then, many mass murderers are much younger and some [see my prior post] are women) former Marine, according to police, allegedly targeted and killed his ex-wife with whom he had been engaged in a "bitter" custody battle over their 8-year-old son. Someone who knows the alleged perpetrator, now under arrest, described him tellingly as "bitter....very bitter," noting that he and his wife, who were divorced in 2007, had been extremely unhappy "for a long time." So, evidently, well before Mr. Dekraai allegedly arrived at his ex-wife's place of employment last Wednesday, "loaded down with weapons," wearing a bullet-proof vest, and started shooting, he had reportedly been angry, resentful and embittered, "unstable" and "almost manic," according to his ex-wife, who reportedly obtained a restraining order against him the day before the killings. Other clear warning signs include a history of alleged domestic violence (see my prior post), as well as having supposedly had a restraining order filed against him by his own step-father at some point for reasons currently unclear. In hindsight, always 20-20, these red flags seem obvious. But, evidently, this smoldering, escalating prelude to violence never received the psychiatric intervention necessary to prevent Mr. Dekraai's apparent meltdown.

Of course, not everyone who goes through a divorce and child custody proceedings goes ballistic, becoming a mass murderer. But some do. Divorce, especially when it involves disputed child custody, is a very volatile, stressful process. And it can induce dangerous states of mind. (See my prior post and Joel Schumacher's cinematic depiction of this slow and dangerous descent into madness in his 1992 film, Falling Down.) In 2008, here in suburban Los Angeles, in a bizarre case reminiscent of this one, Bruce Pardo, a 45-year-old recently divorced engineer, an usher at his church, upstanding citizen and reported "nice guy," donned a Santa Claus suit on Christmas Eve and brutally shot and burned to death nine people, including his ex-wife and her family, before committing suicide. (See my prior post.) Whatever mental health issues Dekraai may have had before, perhaps partly related to his military service, it would appear that the divorce and "bitter" custody battle likely pushed him over the edge.

Embitterment builds over time, turning toxic and pathological, and frequently manifests in fantasies, sometimes intrusive, obsessive and unwanted fantasies, of exacting revenge on those perceived to be to blame for one's problems. When the anger, rage, resentment and embitterment grow wild, unchecked or ignored, vengeful, murderous fantasies turn into reality. It is highly likely, and indicated by the premeditation present in both of these sad cases, that such fantasies and murderous impulses preceded their heinous enactment. There is almost always some "final straw," some perceived blow not necessarily apparent to others, that sets the mass murderer off. Some spark that ignites the powder keg. In the case of Mr. Dekraai, the course of the custody battle not going in his favor could have been the catalyst. But only because the embitterment and fury had festered for so long.

This dangerous state of mind may be partially likened to what is traditionally known in Malaysia as "running amok." During the incubatory stage of this amok syndrome, as described in the American Psychiatric Association's DSM-IV-TR, the perpetrator, almost always male, goes through a "period of brooding followed by an outburst of violent, aggressive or homicidal behavior." In some, but not most cases of mass murder, as with the amok syndrome, the violence can signal the presence of psychosis, and is typically followed by a return to "normalcy" and full or partial amnesia for the event. Significantly, the amok syndrome "tends to be precipitated by a perceived slight or insult." This is really the key to understanding what motivates such evil deeds. The perpetrator has been somehow hurt, psychologically wounded, figuratively castrated, insulted, disrespected, rejected, traumatized, humiliated or defeated in some way, and seeks, at least unconsciously, revenge and retaliation. This primitive "talionic response" is fueled by festering rage, anger, resentment and bitterness, which, when denied, dissociated, repressed or chronically masked, becomes pathological and potentially destructive. (Pre-existing pathological narcissism or what I have referred to as "psychopathic narcissism" certainly makes one more susceptible, though we all suffer from some narcissistic vulnerability.) It is a narcissistic need to win at all costs. To right a perceived wrong. To exert what little control, dignity, freedom and power one feels one has left by lashing out at others or the world. And, in some cases, such as the numerous school shootings in recent decades or the recent cases of Anders Breivik in Norway (see my prior post) or Jared Lee Loughner in Arizona (see my prior post), it is motivated by what I call a "wicked rage for recognition." (See my prior post.) However, whereas Loughner, Ted "Unambomber" Kaczynski (see my prior post), possibly Breivik and many other violent offenders who "run amok" are subsequently diagnosed with Schizophrenia, Dissociative Disorder, Bipolar Disorder or some severe personality disorder, most are not psychotic, and certainly do not meet the criteria for legal insanity. They are mad, angry, resentful, embittered. But not necessarily mentally ill. Or, maybe more accurately, it is their raging pathological embitterment, their underlying anger disorder (see my prior post) that makes them mentally "ill" and motivates their violent behavior, rather than vice-versa.

The bottom line is this: The violence epidemic (and there surely is one today, despite what evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker naively says in his newest book) is really a rage epidemic. It is a new and pernicious form of violence arising in part from a postmodern loss of meaning, power, significance and conscious relationship with the daimonic. We frail humans are prone to feeling hurt. And when we feel hurt, we are prone to feeling angry. If we deny this anger, dismiss it, deem it merely destructive, uncivilized and therefore, evil, fail to embrace and provide it some positive outlet, it will eventually become exactly that. But if we acknowledge it, recognize it, find ways to constructively express it, anger, rather than becoming toxic or pathological rage, resentment or embitterment, can be empowering and positive. When individuals cannot manage their anger constructively, when it begins turning into pathological embitterment, depression, irritability, temper tantrums or manic rage, professional help is required. Medication may sometimes be needed. But pharmacotherapy that serves only to suppress the anger is counterproductive and can compound the problem. Psychotherapy is absolutely essential in such cases. In psychotherapy, the anger must be talked about openly, confronted, accepted, understood and verbally expressed. Not just drugged or rationalized away. Had the recent California killers sought and received the right kind of therapeutic treatment for their anger, had the warning signs been heeded, had the appropriate treatment been found, these terrible tragedies might not have happened. It is never futile to try to make sense of such incidents. Far from it. We, as psycholgists and citizens, have a responsibility to do so, to learn to better understand and stem these convulsions of violence (which also include hateful terrorist acts) as much as possible.The consequences, for all of us, of failing to do so are catastrophic.

This may sound somewhat facile, but meditation helps too. For those of us for whom therapy doesn't really work, other methods of dealing with anger are obviously required. Meditation (for many if not all people) is deeply and profoundly calming and stress-reducing. (And a LOT cheaper!)

Yes, you are right about the benefits of meditation. I believe every so-called "anger management" program must include some kind of meditation. But if you practice meditation, you must know that meditation is anything but "facile." Meditation is a skill that, like any other skill, must be practiced religiously in order to get any good at it. And this can take quite some time. And lots of self-discipline. So, while I value meditation as a therapeutic tool, it is not really a substitute for psychotherapy--especially when dealing with intense daimonic energies like anger or rage. Psychotherapy needs to be part of the program. Meditation helps to calm the mind and become less attached to one's angry thoughts, fantasies and feelings. But meditation, like psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy, can also be used to suppress the daimonic, deny the anger, rage or resentment, disown it as being "unspiritual" or "unenlightened." This is a huge problem in spiritual practice in general. And it is very dangerous.

Thanks for the great article. Anger certainly is at the root of much aggression, except psychopathic or cold aggression.

However, developmentally, all children show some aggression from the ages of 12 to 30 months. When Caregivers teach alternatives to getting their needs met, aggression decreases to almost zero by the time children enter school. Those children that do not learn alternatives to getting their needs met, continue to be aggressive (Tremblay, 2005) throughout their lives (Life long trajectory (Terri Moffit). This is a developmental and skill problem that must be rectified for adults to be able to use appropriate and effective interpersonal behaviors.

Your name sounds familiar, Dr. Seifert. Have we met? In any case, thanks for the nice comment. I'm glad you found the article interesting. When you exclude psychopathy and "cold aggression" as anger-related syndromes, I would have to disagree. For me, anger, rage and hatred are at the very core of psychopathy and so-called "cold-blooded" aggression or violence. It is just that these hateful feelings are so dissociated in such individuals and so characterological that their actions superficially seem more cold and calculating rather than driven by the heat or passion of anger. But this is deceptive. Having evaluated many antisocial defendants forensically, my experience is that their seemingly unemotional evil deeds stem from a deep core of repressed rage, and represent a behavioral manifestation of that raging core. It's kind of like the molten core at the Earth's center: On the surface, there can be snow, ice, glaciers, etc. But down deep, that hot magma is roiling, and can erupt volcanically at any time. While I agree that children must be "socialized" so as to learn to get their needs met without always resorting to aggressive behavior, and that when this doesn't happen, when such aggressive behavior goes unchecked or even reinforced, there can develop a "life-long trajectory" of aggression such as Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder and what I have called "psychopathic narcissism." Having said that, this in itself is not, in my opinion, enough to explain the development of these disorders, which, as you know, I tend to view and conceptualize fundamentally as "anger disorders." Thanks again for your comments!

We may have met somewhere along the way at a conference. Looking at your explanation of deep-seated psychopathic rage, I agree that it is an anger issue, perhaps even a trauma generated anger issue. I just was not seeing it from that angle. The article is great. Thanks.

Thanks for your kind comments. I think my answer to your question would depend in part on what kind of treatment program we are designing. Also whether we are talking in-patient or out-patient, residential or day-treatment, etc. But I think that whether it was specifically for the treatment of anger disorders or more generally some kind of psychiatric treatment program, my focus therapeutically, in addition to monitoring and actively intervening in suicidality and homicidality, psychotic symptomatology, substance abuse, etc., would be on addressing quite directly the patient's underlying (or, in some cases, overt) anger or rage, not by rejecting, demeaning or criticizing it, but rather by accepting it as legitimate and valid given their history. And verbally and experientially getting at its origins, the psychological (or sometimes spiritual) roots of their rage. This typically leads to underlying feelings of sadness, grief, hurt, fear, etc., all of which need to be felt and processed. But getting at the anger is key. So this is a therapy focused on the "daimonic." An approach I call Existential Depth Psychology. (I would primarily use intensive individual psychotherapy, 2-3 times per week to start. Group therapy might be useful, but only later on.) The patient then needs to be confronted with his or her existential responsibility to first, choose whether to try to relate to the anger consciously and constructively or continue to deny, repress avoid or destructively act it out; and, second, consciously decide whether they choose simply to remain angry (or more often, embittered, resentful, resigned and rejecting of life), allowing the anger to destroy them and others, or use their anger constructively or even creatively to pursue their personal goals or make the world a better place. Of course, first they have to be encouraged to focus on what they really want, what they love (rather than what they hate) and, more importantly, on what they really need to live a meaningful and fulfilling life. Daily meditation and mindfulness can help with that. But that is a highly oversimplified answer to your brief but interesting and relevant question.

Your article crystallizes for me the core issue in people who kill. It also raises several thoughts for me:

1. How bizarre that our DSM has no category for anger disorders. It lists pathological anxiety and depression, but not the other most frequent emotional disorder, anger. Do you see any hope for change in that blind spot in our diagnostic manual?

2. Anger and its underground versions like embitterment are often at the core of marriages that fail. Gottman's marriage research confirms your point, that ability to talk about and through anger, which in couples is the ability to talk through and heal after upsets, characterizes both individuals and couples that can thrive.

3. My current most troubled and therefore troubling to me client is locked in anger at himself in a severe depressive episode. Same phenomenon as you describe but, as Karl Abraham wrote many years ago, it's anger turned inward. Can be hard to loosen....and does seem to have a biological as well as an existential basis, though no drugs work for him. Your article encourages me to seek again to unearth the underlying sources of the embitterment.

4. I would encourage you to look into Bradley Nelson's Emotion Code treatments. Pretty astonishing in their ability to rapidly access and release long-stored negative emotions.

In conclusion, bravo for this intelligent, informed, and insightful post.

Your article interests me very much and as always very evenly weighted and well written. I have an interest in identifying peoples hidden reactions to extreme stressors (impulsive or simmered)and have been attempting to devise a comprehensive assessment tool that may give me some insight into "the Mr. Hyde persona". We all have defense mechanisms to protect us from harm, stress, trauma etc which help us deflect the blame from ourselves, after all anger plays a clever role in this faulty thought, as it conveniently blames the other person or event for their misfortune.

Apart from those people having a "Genuine" Mental Illness I am certain these individuals believe what they were plotting/hatching is the only way to seek revenge/satisfaction, it's only after physically doing the action do they realise it was wrong which usually result's in them taking there life. In your article you quote "It's really a matter of being able and ready to read the signs by reviewing the perpetrator's behavioral and psychiatric history in sufficient depth to disclose the details. This is part of what takes place during a thorough forensic evaluation". Are you suggesting if these people came to your attention prior to the event you can identify "the writing on the wall".

My own role as a Therapist aims to help people manage their anger at a primary stage, my clientele are working with people that are similar in presentation to Shareef Allman, who do not have criminal records and usually hold down good jobs, loving family etc yet they come to me to help them manage their increasing anger, hence me wanting to take this opportunity to identify the potential for identifying the "Mr Hyde persona". I feel if I can help identify the this type of personality and catch it early enough it may be prevented. Therefore my questions are what is it that helps keep us grounded? can and do we truly know our self's and our capabilities to cause harm to others. What help or advise would you give to me or to others in developing our techniques in identifying "the true self".

I would like to add a developmental aspect to the discussion. While anger may be at the core, how one expresses anger determines the behavior. How one expresses anger can be mapped with the stages of moral development:
1. egocentric and unable to delay gratification (I want what i want and I want it now!!), but beginning to develop interpersonal trust, if environment is healthy (infancy) 2. Wanting to "please" caregivers and ruled by reward and punishment.(toddlers) 3. Cooperative relationships among peers (early elementary school) 4. Testing competence plus perspective taking. Practices social rules.(elementary school) 6. Empathy develops (middle childhood) 7. Being part of a social group is important (teen) 8. Following social "rules" through internal structures of knowing right from wrong. (adult)

Much research supports the findings that childhood maltreatment can interfere with moral and interpersonal skill development, leaving a child in an earlier stage of development. For me, Treatment for extremely complex cases (those at higher risk for violence) must include interpersonal therapies, family therapy, and developmental skill building.
Respectfully,
Kathy seifert

Capitalism is barbarism at it's root it is the root source of these problems. People were never meant to be domesticated and told "work or starve" at the point of a gun of the corporate state. The vast majority of the people own nothing, these pathologies are produced because of the ideology of private property. You have billionaires and homeless people in the same society. You endorse the state of the affairs.

Americans and american ideology and culture as at the root of these things. Americans don't have a value system in line with the laws of nature. They are a barbarian society.

Yeah, right. The USA is horrible, that's why illegal immigrants are literally pouring over our borders by the thousands, risking death to live and work here and hopefully become legal citizens someday. Go live in Russia or China if you hate capitalism. You seem to have collected a lot of grudges, Bobby, and you seem to have a narcissistic sense of entitlement to be given something for nothing, so send us a postcard from Beijing, Comrade Bob.

Its now 2015, 4 years after your article was initially published, and there have tragically been more mass-murder and mass/murder-suicide incidents scarring the public psyche, as well as countless numbers of smaller-scale but equally tragic domestic murder and murder/suicide incidents.

Obviously, everyone gets angry SOMETIMES; EVERYone feels betrayed, or cheated, or subjected to injustice, or bullied, or rejected, etc., but NOT everyone deals with their feelings of rage, injustice and hurt feelings by deciding to blow up a mall, or crash their plane full of innocent commercial travelers into a mountain and perhaps kill themselves at the same time.

So, I think you and others have come up with this theory before, and I agree with it; I think mass murder and mass-murder/suicide is due
to a combination of:

We are now approaching the end of 2015, and we're averaging one new mass murder incident about every 10 days. I think It's becoming obvious that the majority of these mass murder perpetrators are (or were) mentally ill; all of the last 4 had a history of serious mental disorder.

Bottom line: if a person is so emotionally unstable, angry, resentful, revenge-seeking, or out of touch with reality that he or she is prescribed serious psychotropic medication just in order to function adequately, then that person needs to be in supervised care.

If an outpatient has the freedom to mix alcohol or street drugs with their meds, or the freedom to just stop taking their meds, the freedom of personal transportation, and has access to weapons, then those are some serious red flag factors that are common to a lot of mass murderers.

I think the whole concept of "in-patient vs out-patient" needs to be re-examined, so that the enraged grudge-collectors who should be on tranquilizers will not be out roaming around unmedicated and looking to "get back" at society via yet another ghastly act of mass violence, mass murder, with or without suicide (or suicide-by-cop.)

I fear that these small tremors, these acts of wonton violence, are indicative of a rising darkness in our world. Whatever social, psychological, or spiritual forces are at work are becoming more pervasive and widespread.

Mass murders by terrorist acts in the Middle East that were localized attacks (suicide bombings and such) have distilled into ISIS.

Long held aggravation with police has turned into violent upheavals in our urban centers here in America.

I am an ignorant man when I comes to psychological processes and interventions, but I do know that something is rising and it's only getting worse.

Not unlike the earthquakes before a major volcanic eruption, I see these localized acts of violence to be precursors to something more pandemic and widespread.

Is there some concurrence between subjective psychologists and objective sociologists that can honestly analyze and surface why this problem is spreading and rising to organized and cultural violence?

Thank you for this article. Written a few years ago, alas it is has more prescience now than even it did in 2011. I pray that 2016 can lead to some kind of solution to this outside of genocidal actions on the part of world powers.